Musafer Qassim—Born in 1991, he lives and works in Leipzig.
In September 2024, he completed his postgraduate Meisterschüler studies with Prof. Michael Riedel at the Academy of Fine Arts Leipzig (HGB). Prior to that, he graduated with distinction under the supervision of Prof. Christoph Ruckhäberle.
Musafer Qassim is a multidisciplinary artist working across painting, animation, installation, and site-specific practices. His work operates at the intersection of figuration and abstraction, exploring memories, bodily experiences, landscapes, and inner image worlds that shift, transform, and dissolve throughout the artistic process.
At the core of his current practice lies the relationship between painting and animation. He investigates how the materiality of painting can be connected with the possibilities of the moving image. Through the transformation of forms, colors, and structures, new visual narratives emerge between stillness and movement, past and present.
Process plays a central role in his work. Through layering, traces, condensation, and deliberately open pictorial spaces, he develops a dynamic visual language that oscillates between presence and fragmentation. Color, materiality, and gesture function not only as formal devices but also as carriers of emotional and atmospheric states.
His practice is driven by a sustained interest in transformation, perception, and the question of how images can store and transmit experiences—both individual and collective. Working across different media, he creates open visual spaces in which painting, movement, and memory intertwine, existing in a continuous state of becoming.
In September 2024, he completed his postgraduate Meisterschüler studies with Prof. Michael Riedel at the Academy of Fine Arts Leipzig (HGB). Prior to that, he graduated with distinction under the supervision of Prof. Christoph Ruckhäberle.
Musafer Qassim is a multidisciplinary artist working across painting, animation, installation, and site-specific practices. His work operates at the intersection of figuration and abstraction, exploring memories, bodily experiences, landscapes, and inner image worlds that shift, transform, and dissolve throughout the artistic process.
At the core of his current practice lies the relationship between painting and animation. He investigates how the materiality of painting can be connected with the possibilities of the moving image. Through the transformation of forms, colors, and structures, new visual narratives emerge between stillness and movement, past and present.
Process plays a central role in his work. Through layering, traces, condensation, and deliberately open pictorial spaces, he develops a dynamic visual language that oscillates between presence and fragmentation. Color, materiality, and gesture function not only as formal devices but also as carriers of emotional and atmospheric states.
His practice is driven by a sustained interest in transformation, perception, and the question of how images can store and transmit experiences—both individual and collective. Working across different media, he creates open visual spaces in which painting, movement, and memory intertwine, existing in a continuous state of becoming.
©Hendrik HeinickeMusafer Qassim
E-Mail: info@musaferqassim.com
Work experience:
10/2024 - today Research assistant Painting / Printmaking Evening Academy at the Academy of Fine Arts Leipzig (HGB)
Studies:
2022 - 2024 Postgraduate studies/Meisterschüler Prof. Michael Riedel HGB Leipzig
2019 - 2022 Diploma, with honours Class of Prof. Christoph Ruckhäberle HGB Leipzig
2010 - 2014 Bachelor Degree Plastic Art/Painting Salahaddin University Erbil / Iraq
Prizes/ Scholarships:
2019 Study Award of the HGB Freundeskreis and the Sparkasse Leipzig
2020 - 2024 Grant of the German Academic Scholarship Foundation
2024 - 2025 Nomination of the Märkisches Stipendium Gallery of the city of Lüdenscheid
2025 Märkisches Stipendium Municipal Gallery Lüdenscheid
25-28.09.2024 Exhibition of the Meisterschüler*innen Gallery The Grass is Greener Leipzig
2024 Exhibition “Plus” Raum Plus, Leipzg
2023 Exhibition “Blickwechsel” Kunststation Kleinsassen
2022 Group exhibition “Höhle 3000”, Galerie Kleindienst / Spinnerei Leipzig
2022 Diploma exhibition “Untitled”, HGB Leipzig
2022 Group exhibition “Labyrinth”, Kunsthalle Pfaffenhofen / Munich
2022 Gruppen Ausstellung “Rausch” Werkschauhalle Spinnerei Leipzig
2022 Gruppenausstellung “das kalte Herz” Galerie Markt Bruckmühl/München
2022 Diploma exhibition with presentation, HGB Leipzig
2019 Exhibition for the Student Award, Gallery HGB Leipzig
2019 Group exhibition “Schools Out – Klasse Ruckhäberle Exhibits”, Galerie Thaler Originalgrafik / Leipzig
Workshops:
07-08/2023 Workshop ‘Blaumachen’ Museum der Bildenden Künste Leipzig
01-02/2020 Workshop ‘Perspektive’ Halle 14 at Spinnerei Leipzig
06/2019 Workshop ‘Ex—Impressionismus’ Museum der Bildenden Künste Leipzig
E-Mail: info@musaferqassim.com
Work experience:
10/2024 - today Research assistant Painting / Printmaking Evening Academy at the Academy of Fine Arts Leipzig (HGB)
Studies:
2022 - 2024 Postgraduate studies/Meisterschüler Prof. Michael Riedel HGB Leipzig
2019 - 2022 Diploma, with honours Class of Prof. Christoph Ruckhäberle HGB Leipzig
2010 - 2014 Bachelor Degree Plastic Art/Painting Salahaddin University Erbil / Iraq
Prizes/ Scholarships:
2019 Study Award of the HGB Freundeskreis and the Sparkasse Leipzig
2020 - 2024 Grant of the German Academic Scholarship Foundation
2024 - 2025 Nomination of the Märkisches Stipendium Gallery of the city of Lüdenscheid
2025 Märkisches Stipendium Municipal Gallery Lüdenscheid
25-28.09.2024 Exhibition of the Meisterschüler*innen Gallery The Grass is Greener Leipzig
2024 Exhibition “Plus” Raum Plus, Leipzg
2023 Exhibition “Blickwechsel” Kunststation Kleinsassen
2022 Group exhibition “Höhle 3000”, Galerie Kleindienst / Spinnerei Leipzig
2022 Diploma exhibition “Untitled”, HGB Leipzig
2022 Group exhibition “Labyrinth”, Kunsthalle Pfaffenhofen / Munich
2022 Gruppen Ausstellung “Rausch” Werkschauhalle Spinnerei Leipzig
2022 Gruppenausstellung “das kalte Herz” Galerie Markt Bruckmühl/München
2022 Diploma exhibition with presentation, HGB Leipzig
2019 Exhibition for the Student Award, Gallery HGB Leipzig
2019 Group exhibition “Schools Out – Klasse Ruckhäberle Exhibits”, Galerie Thaler Originalgrafik / Leipzig
Workshops:
07-08/2023 Workshop ‘Blaumachen’ Museum der Bildenden Künste Leipzig
01-02/2020 Workshop ‘Perspektive’ Halle 14 at Spinnerei Leipzig
06/2019 Workshop ‘Ex—Impressionismus’ Museum der Bildenden Künste Leipzig